Railway-tie.



PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905.

W. I. F. HARDEN.

RAILWAY TIE.

APPLICATION FILED mmzs, 1905.

witnesses c7 V flaw No. 807,377. Y PATENTED DBO. 12,1905.

.I-.F.HARDEN. RAILWAY TIE. APPLICATION FILED MAR-23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

amen/hex q/viwiam flfiwuaw $04M QWMMJ;

witnesses WILLIAM 1. F. HARDEN, 0F HARTFORD, KANSAS.

RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Application filed March 23, 1905. Serial No. 251,631.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM I. F. HARDEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Hartford, in the county of Lyon and State of Kansas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Ties; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in railway ties and means ofsecuring rails thereto.

It has for its object to provide a tie which is simple ofconstruction,durahle, and yet very cheap of manufacture and in theconstruction of which a much smaller amount of wood is consumed than isnow used for the ordinary wooden tie, the wood to a great extent beingreplaced by some durable material. The importance of cutting down thevast amount of wood now used for ties, as has been pointed out in myformer application, filed October 4, 1904, Serial No. 227,171,(something like eight hundred million ties being now in use in thiscountry,) is generally understood as making it necessary to protect theforests. The invention consists in the'details of construction andcombinations of parts. hereinafter described, and more particularlypointed v out in the claims concluding this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodiment ofmy invention, which is intended as an improvement on that forming thesubject of my previous application hereinbefore mentioned, Figure 1 is aplan view of a sheet of metal marked out for the casing of a tie,showing the position of the rivet and bolt holes therein. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of said casing when bent into shape with the end flapspartly turned in. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a section of track, showingtwo complete ties and sections of rails in place thereon, each tiehaving the wood sections arranged differently therein and each havingadifferent style of rail-holding top plate. Fig. 4 is' an end view of oneof said ties. Figs. 5, 6, and? are plan views, respectively, ofdiflerent arrangements of wood and wood-and-concrete fillings for the.

upper part of the ties. Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view takenthrough the wood filling on the line 00 w on either of the Figs. 5, 6 or7. Fig. 9 is a similar view taken through the concrete filling of theupper portion of the tie on the line 3/ y of either Figs. 6 or 7. Fig.

10 is a broken sectional view on the line a 2' of Fig. 7, taken throughthe drain-passage running from the recess holding the wood to the end ofthe tie. Fig. 11 is a similar view of a different form of wood recessand block therefor, and Fig. 12 is a broken sectional view showing theform of screw-spike which Iprefer to use on the inner side of the rails.

While the preferred embodiment of my in-.

vention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings and itsconstruction and operation is described in the following specification,the right is reserved to make such changes from the constructions shownand described herein as the scope of the claims hereto appended willpermit.

In carrying out my invention I cut the casing for the tie from a singlesheet of metal, as shown in Fig. 1. The sheet is then bent into the formshown in Fig. 2 with a broad base and a narrower upper portion. Saidcasing has end flaps which are folded in to close the ends thereof. Thebroad'base of the casing is filled with concrete or similar substance,and strips or blocks of wood of much smaller size than the ordinaryWooden tie are placed either together with concrete or alone in theupper part of the casing and bolted in place between the upstandingflanges. Said casing is provided with a series of holes preferablydrilled before the sheet is bent in said upstandingflanges and in theupper horizontal portions of the casing. By means of the latter holesangular brace-bars are riveted permanently to the casing with theirother flanges providde with perforations registering with the holes inthe upstanding flanges of the casing, and bolts are passed therethroughfor holding the wooden block in place. Rail-holding plates having theirends turned over to engage the outer flanges of the rails are placed onthe top of the tie over the wood blocks and are secured thereto byspikes having their heads engaging the inner flanges of the rails. Saidrail-holding plates may be made in various length, as shown in Fig. 3.Where the wooden blocks are arranged inward from the ends of tiedrain-passages are formed in the concrete from the wood sockets to theends of the tie. These sockets may be understepped at one end and theblock provided with an extension adapted to project into said steppedportion, whereby it is secured against upward movement at that end andcan only be removed from the other end. A

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 is the bottom of thecasing, 2 indicates the sides or vertical portions of the broad base, 3the upper horizontal portions or steps of said base, and 4 are theupstanding flanges. The bottom 1 is provided with the end flaps 1, andthe other portions 2, 3, and 4 are also provided each with flaps 2, 3,and 1, respectively, as in my former application. In forming the tie theflaps are turned in, as described in said application. The base of thetie is filled with concrete 5 in all the forms shown. In Fig. 5 is showna single filling strip of wood 6 for the upper portion of the tie, as inmy former application. In Fig. 6 the central portion of the upper partof the tie is filled with concrete, as at 6, and the ends are filledwith short sections of wood 7 extending from the end about one-third thelength of the tie. In Fig. 7 the short strips or blocks of wood 7 areshorter and are arranged in sockets between the middle section 6 andouter end sections 8 of concrete, said blocks arranged below the railsof the track. In the last mentioned form drainpassages 9 are formed inthe concrete from the sockets to the ends of the tie in order to permitmoisture to run off and prevent rotting of the blocks of wood. As shownin Fig. 11, the recess is undercut or stepped at 10 at the end nearestthe end of the tie, and the block is correspondingly cut, as at 11, tofit thereunder. This formation prevents the rising of the blocks out ofthe cavities. The blocks are preferably made reversible, as shown, sothat they may be removed, inverted, and again inserted for further use.Smaller and shorter blocks of wood than could otherwise be employed inrailway construction, including softer woods and even pieces of old tiesthat are sound, might be used for this purpose, as they are covered bythe rail-engaging plates.

The reinforcing angle-bars 12 are permanently riveted to the upperhorizontal portions of the casing at 13, as has already been described,and they are secured with the upwardly-extending flanges to the woodenblocks by transverse bolts 1 1. Said angle bars greatly strengthen theupper narrow portion of the tie, making it possible to do away with thecover-plate of my former application. The rail-holding plates 13, made,as in said application,either sectional or extending all the way alongbetween the rails, have their outer ends turned over, as at 17, toengage the outer flanges of the rails and are provided with holes alongthe inner flange for the spikes. I prefer to use a screw-spike 17 asshown in Fig. 12, for holding said plate and the rails in place, as itsuse tends to avoid the shock caused by the hammer-strokes in driving thespikes and also lessens the chances of splitting the wood.

The present invention has all the advantages of my former one and at thesame time eliminates the cover-plate and still further resever? strictsthe amount of wood consumed in the manufacture of the ties. As in theformer case, the parts are made interchangeable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A railroad-tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower portionor base and anar rower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion and a filling for the upper portion consisting of part concreteand part wood.

2. A railroad-tie comprising a casing formed with a broadv lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete fillingfor the lowerportion and a filling for the upper portion consisting of part concreteand part wood, and means to retain said wood in place.

3. Arailroad-tiecomprisingacasingformed with a broad angular lowerportion or base and a narrower angular upper portion, a concrete fillingfor the lower portion and a filling for the upper portion consistingpartly of concrete and partly of wood.

4. A railroad-tie comprising a casing made from sheet metal and havingits sides bent from the base, first upward, then inward and thenceupward again forming a broad lower portion and a narrower upper portion,a concrete filling for the lower portion and a filling for the upperportion consisting partly of concrete and partly of wood.

5. A railroad-tie comprising a metallic casing made from a single sheetand having its sides bent from the base first upward, then inward, andthence upward again forming a broad lower portion and a narrower upperportion, a concrete filling for the lower portion and a filling for theupper portion consisting partly of concrete and partly of wood.

6. A railroad-tie comprising a casing made from sheet metal and havingits sides bent from the base first upward, then inward, and thenceupward again forming a broad lower portion and a narrower upper portion,the extremities of said casing slit and turned inward to close the ends,a concrete filling for the lower portion and a filling for the upperportion consisting partly of concrete and partly of wood.

7 A railroad-tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion extending up into the upper portion at the center and a woodfilling for the ends of said upper portion.

8. Arailroad-tiecomprisingacasingformed with a broad lower portion orbase and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion extending up into the upper portion at the center and endsleaving intermediate recesses in said concrete, and blocks of woodarranged in said recesses.

9. A railroad-tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower-portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion at the center and ends leaving intermediate recesses below saidrails, and blocks of wood arranged in said recesses.

10. A railroad -tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lowerportion or base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for thelower portion extending up into the upper portion at the center and endsleaving intermediate recesses in said concrete, and blocks of woodarranged in said recesses, and drain-passages from said recesses.

11. A railroad tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion extending up into the upper portion at the center and endsleaving intermediate recesses in said concrete, blocks of wood arrangedin said recesses, and drain-passages from said recesses to the ends ofthe ties.

12. A railroad tie comprising a casing formed-with a broad lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion extending up into the upper portion at the center and endsleaving intermediate recesses in'said concrete, and blocks of woodarranged in said recesses, each recess having an undercut step atone-end, the said wood filling having an extension thereunder.

13. A railroad tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion extending up into the upper portion at the center and endsleaving intermediate recesses in said concrete, and blocks of woodarranged in said recesses, each recess having an undercut step at theouter end, the said wood filling having an extension thereunder.

14. A railroad tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion, a filling for-the upper portion consisting partly of concreteand partly of wood, and a rail-engaging plate arranged over the woodfilling.

15. A railroad tie comprising a casing formed with a broad lower portionor base and a narrower upper portion, a concrete filling for the lowerportion, a filling for the upper portion consisting partly ofconcreteand partly of wood, and angular brace-bars arranged in the outer upperangles of said casing, and means to 'secure the horizontal flanges ofsaid bars to the horizontal portions of said casing.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM 11F. HARDEN.

Witnesses:

C. S. PERKINS, C. R. BAYSINGER.

